Apr 15, 2010

UNPO Condemns the Shooting of Ogoni Youth by Soldiers Guarding Shell Staff Members


The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) condemns in the strongest possible terms the shooting of the Ogoni youth Bariara Vurasi Lemon by Nigeria soldiers guarding Shell employees and regards the act as an atrocity.

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The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) condemns in the strongest possible terms the shooting of the Ogoni youth Bariara Vurasi Lemon by Nigeria soldiers guarding Shell employees and regards the act as an atrocity.

On 13 April at 12 noon, Mr Lemon was working with a number of other youths in the Oil Well 4, Bomu Oil Fields in the Ogoni region of Nigeria. A minor disagreement regarding the sharing of food packs resulted in the shooting and death of Mr Lemon and torture of some others present. The shooting was carried out by armed guards attached to members of staff working for the oil company, Shell. Mr Lemon’s corpse was reportedly thereafter take away by the guards and disposed of with no burial options provided to his family.

The reckless attitude and irresponsibility of these armed guards must be reviewed and brutal activities as these must not be tolerated by the Nigerian government. This event comes after a number of similar cases where Nigerian soldiers have used deadly force at the request of Shell, and have with Shell’s assistance undertaken brutal attacks on the Ogoni people. Torture and extrajudicial killings on Ogoni people have become commonplace and have remained uninvestigated and gone unpunished. Justice must be sought in this case by the government and other available authorities.